The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-11-25
WOMEN AS P0ULTRY-RAIsERs.

4 th)rs advising and recommending appro-
pirate and lucrative employment for wo-
men. Ella Wheeler Wilcox recently pub
lished her views on the question, and
| suggested that the world needed more
! professional nurses. Although an excellent
| suggestion. there are thousands of women
whose natures are not suited to such work.
and there are thousands of women who
would not care to accept situations in the
sick room even though particularly
adapted to it. Various other suggestions
| have been made, but in none Of them has
| it been possible for women to rise above
an income exceeding $40 or SIS per week,
unless it be in a profession which would
require years of study and application
before definite income could be OBJ
tained.
In the raising Of poultry, through the
assistance of the modern incubator, there
| is field for women in which may be
found healthful and lucrative employment.
At first the idea Of woman engaging in
breeding of poultry may strike the average
female as highly ludicrous. 1t will be
necessary to cite but single instance
where women have met with the utmost
success to dispel such an impression.
In the town of Hammonton, a village of
some $500 inhabitants, located on the line
of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad,
thirty miles from Philadelphia, much in
terest in poultry raising has developed
through the success attained By two of the
towns most charming young women,
Misses Emma and Anna Presley, who,
by the way, have from necessity experience
ed the many difficulties which continually
confront women in the selection of an APP
propriate employment from which to earn
livelihood. The financial embarrass-
ment of their father some five years ago,
followed by the death of their mother.
forced them to seek employment. They
remuneration was not over $40 per month.
They then tried stage life and travelled
with a leading operate manager for two
seasons. This, too, was unsatisfactory
continually clouded their future. Return
ing to their home they became interested
in poultry raising, principally through the
influence of newspaper article which re-
lated the difficulties experienced by city
hotels and restaurants in supplying the
demand for Spring chickens They
were impressed with the idea of endeayor-
ing to relieve the scarcity and once deter
mined to give the industry trial.
Accordingly they provided themselves
with the necessary paraphernalia, incuba-
ter brooder, yards, &C., at an outlay of
| less than 500. The result of their opera
| tons was more than satisfactory. For
| their first three months labor their net
profit was $1,000. Encouraged by these
results, last December found them iucreas-
/ ing their facilities, and at the close of the
| hatching season their profits for the four
months amounted to nearly $1,000. In
what other occupation could two young
women reap such harvest in an equal
/ time?
The modus operandi OF this new employ
ment for women is easily acquired. An
outfit requires but trifing investment of
capital, while the returns are certain and
speedy. The Misses Pressey employ three
incubators, which produce an average of
800 chickens week The machines re-
quire attention twice day, while the little
chicks must be fed every two hours until
they are two weeks old, when they are
served less frequently. At three and four
months they are ready for the market.
At this age the average cost of production
has been 10 cents per pound, and the price
paid by the restaurant and hotel proprie-
tor is from 40 to so cents per pound. These
prices are paid at the yards and the pur-
chaser bears all the expense of transporta-
lion, thus relieving the producer of all risk
and further trouble Toexpatiate on these
figures would be- waste of time and space
1t is plain that the profits are seldom
equaled by any other employment in which
women can engage.
During the Matching season, which be-
gins with December and continues during
winter, the Misses Pressey have many visit
ors who come from various nearby States
to learn of their experiences and successes,
returning fully satisfied that in this indus
try there is new field for the employment
of women. With all their work these
| young women. handsome aud attractive,
find ample time for social pleasures and
! intellectual advancement. and during the
summer and fall months it is not necessary
for them to engage in any work with a
view of earning an income.
Licensed liquor is just as disastrous now
as it was when King Ahasuerus and his
guests had dsgraceful, drunken time at
banquet, though, as we are told, the
drinking was according to law DR..
Nm Dr. Thayer.
|
How Unpleasant
it is to see a beautiful child's face disfigur-
ed with vile humors, bursting through the
skin in pimples, blotehes, and sores. and
sadder still, when the youus and innocent
are laughed at and twtted in all such